GHANA ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY - MARCH 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000836

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

COMMERCE FOR MARIA RIVERO
TREASURY FOR LUKAS KOEHLER
US CUSTOMS AND BORDER FOR ERIC WALKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EINV EAGR ECPS EAID ETRD GH
SUBJECT: GHANA ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY - MARCH 2006


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1. (U) This report covers noteworthy economic events and
activities in Ghana for February and March 2006. The issues
covered are:

-- Dole subsidiary inaugurates one million tree banana farm
-- Communications Minister's comments on future of Westel
-- ADM plans construction of a cocoa processing plant
-- Ghana and U.S. Navy host Maritime Security Conference
-- U.S. Customs training program
-- OECD/GoG Meetings on the Paris Declaration

DOLE SUBSIDIARY INAUGURATES BANANA FARM
--------------

2. On March 24, Dole subsidiary Compagnie Fruitiere and
partner Gold Exotics Limited inaugurated its one million-tree
banana farm at Kasunya north of Accra. The farm is built on
the site of a failed sugar cane project begun in the 1960's.
Dole expects the farm to export 40,000 tons in 2006, and
60,000 tons in 2007. Compagnie Fruitiere also owns a large
pineapple farm in Ghana. Together, the two farms employ over
2500 people. President Kufuor, Minister of Trade and
Industry Alan Kyerematen, and Minister of Food and
Agriculture Ernest Akobuor Debrah attended the event.

COMMUNICATION MINISTER'S COMMENTS ON FUTURE OF WESTEL
-------------- --------------

3. During a courtesy call between Ambassador Bridgewater
Minister of Communication Albert Kan Dapaah, Kan Dapaah
discussed the GoG's decision to purchase Westel from U.S.
Telecom company Western Wireless International for $10
million. The Minister claimed the GoG intended to sell
Westel for $60 million, although no date had been set for a
public tender. Kan Dapaah also reiterated his oft-stated
desire to capture 5% of the world's English language
call-center market.

ADM PLANS CONSTRUCTION OF COCOA PROCESSING PLANT
-------------- ---

4. During a March 23 courtesy call on the Ambassador, Mark
Bemis, President of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Cocoa, said
ADM plans to build a cocoa grinding facility in the Kumasi
area. It will be a relatively small facility, with total
investment slightly over $25 million and construction
beginning before the end of 2006. In 2005 ADM Cocoa
purchased 100,000 tons of Ghanaian cocoa, making it the
largest buyer of Ghana's primary export, as well as its
largest single contributor of foreign exchange. ADM is
coordinating with Econ and FCS on an Embassy-sponsored single
company promotion event to publicize the project. (Note: ADM
officials noted to Econoffs that Ghana cocoa is of extremely
high quality, and therefore highly sought after in the
chocolate industry. However, they also noted that the value
of Ghanaian cocoa is in blending process, where buyers grind
various types of cocoa beans together to make specific mixes.
So, grinding the cocoa in Ghana could actually diminish the
value of Ghanaian cocoa. Therefore, ADM, Cargill and other
buyers are resisting pressure from the GoG to grind a larger
percentage of Ghanaian cocoa in Ghana. End Note).

GHANA AND U.S. NAVY HOST MARITIME SECURITY CONFERENCE
-------------- --------------

5. Military and civilian representatives from Africa, Europe,
and the U.S. attended the U.S. Navy-sponsored workshop at the
Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center in Accra March
19 - 22 to discuss maritime safety and security in the Gulf
of Guinea. The conference identified common vulnerabilities
and threats within the maritime domain in order to initiate
dialogue between countries for regional cooperation on
maritime security. The workshop was a lead in to a
ministerial meeting that the African Center for Strategic
Studies and U.S. Naval Forces Europe will hold at the end of

2006. Post will follow up with additional reporting when the
workshop's report is released.

U.S. CUSTOMS TRAINING PROGRAM
--------------

6. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided training
to 25 officers of Ghana's Customs, Excise and Preventative
Service (CEPS) April 3 - 7. The session focused on airport
operations and fraudulent document identification. This is
the first in a series of sessions CBP plans to provide in
order to help CEPS meet its obligations as a member of the
World Customs Organization. Future sessions will focus on

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ports and land border crossings. Ambassador Bridgewater
presided over the graduation ceremonies along with CEPS
Commissioner Major-General Baiden April 7. Both the opening
and closing of the seminar received nation media attention.
Post also arranged with the Customs trainers to repeat and
expand the fraudulent document detection session for Ghana
immigration officials and Police, as well as for Consular
Officers from other missions that have airlines servicing
Accra.

OECD/GoG MEETINGS ON THE PARIS DECLARATION
--------------

7. An OECD team visited Ghana February 28 to field test a
questionnaire and technical guidance for monitoring
implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness,
which the OECD intends to issue to all countries that signed
the Declaration. The team met with GoG representatives and
donors over three days to solicit feedback on the
questionnaire. USAID participated in the meetings and
recommended several ways to clarify definitions in the
guidance and strengthen the questionnaire, which would serve
as a tool for measuring progress in implementing the Paris
Declaration.
LANIER